Compound S-139 may be prepared by fermentation of a suitable nutrient medium with a hitherto undescribed organism, based on extensive taxonomic studies, which is an unnamed Pseudomonas species. An unrestricted permanent deposit of a biologically pure culture of this organism, employed in making heteropolysaccharide S-139, was made with the American Type Culture Collection on May 12, 1980 under Accession No. 31644.
Various classification keys for the genus Pseudomonas and the culture description of Pseudomonas species are found in the 7th Edition of Bergey's Manual (Breed et al., (1957)) and the 8th Edition of Bergy's Manual (Doudoroff et al., (1974)), as well as by other schools in various publications; Hugh and Gilardi, 1974, Pseudomonas, Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 2nd ed., Lennette et al., Eds., pp. 250-269. Iizuka et al., 1963, Attempt at Grouping the Genus Pseudomonas, J. Gen. Appl. Microbiology, 9:73-82; and Hendric et al., 1966, Identification of Certain Species, Identification Methods for Microbiologists, Part A, Gibbs et al., Eds., pp. 1-7, Academic Press, New York.
These keys and descriptions were searched for a Pseudomonas species having morphological cultural characteristics similar to those of ATCC 31644. The following considerations make the assignment of a new Pseudomonas species justified and necessary.